Remarks taken out of context: K’taka minister

Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday clarified his statement on modern women opting to be single and surrogacy, which came under sharp criticism from various quarters for being sexist and bracketing women as just objects to reproduce

Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday clarified his statement on modern women opting to be single and surrogacy, which came under sharp criticism from various quarters for being sexist and bracketing women as just objects to reproduce.

Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar (far left) said that it was widely established through studies and research that families are a source of valuable mental support that is helpful in managing stressful situations (ANI)

Sudhakar said that he was trying to make a point on the support.

“It is unfortunate that a small part of my address out of the nineteen and a half minutes long speech during the World Mental Health Day programme at NIMHANS on Sunday is taken out of context and thereby losing out on the larger point I was trying to make at the prestigious National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences,” he said.

The minister said that it was widely established through studies and research that families are a source of valuable mental support that is helpful in managing stressful situations. He said that the traditional Indian joint family has always been a good source of mental support.

“Unlike western society that puts the focus on individualism, Indian society is collective in that it promotes interdependence and cooperation with the family being the focal point of the societal structure,” he said in his clarification on Monday.

Similarly, CT Ravi, the national general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and legislator from Karnataka, on Monday said that western influence and micro families are changing the mindset of women and it is an issue that needs some serious thought.

“All women are not like this. Some are well-read, doing jobs in IT/BT and their mindset has changed. All women are not like this. This is something to think about and we have to do it. This is happening because of more western influence and micro families,” Ravi said on Monday.

The minister’s comment on Sunday had attracted sharp criticism. The state Congress president, DK Shivakumar said that the comments reflected a regressive mindset.

“They make big promises about women empowerment, while this is what the actual mindset is. Regressive, bashing women for their choices. All masks eventually come off,” Shivakumar said in a post on Twitter.

Speaking at the World Mental Health Day at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru on Sunday, Sudhakar had said, “Today I am sorry to say this. A lot of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don’t want to give birth they want surrogacy. So, there is a paradigm shift in our thinking which is not good,” the minister said at an event for mental health in Bengaluru on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, we are going in a western way. We don’t want our parents to live with us. forget about grandparents being with us and today,” Sudhakar added.